Heat generator



April 13, 1954 A. cLARKsoN HEAT GENERATOR Filed April 28. 1948 I N VEN TOR April 13, 1954 A. cLARKsoN 2,674,981

HEAT GENERATOR Filed April 28, 1948 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 13, 1954 A. CLRKSON `2,6'74,981

HEAT GENERATOR Filed April 28, 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR. QQ'C jar/2:5072,

Patented Apr. 13, 1954 i* UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE HEAT GENERATOR Alick Clarkson, Itasca, Ill., assignor of one-half to Vapor Heating Corporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Delaware Application April 28, 1948, Serial N o. 23,728

10 Claims. (Cl. 122-136) l 2 This invention relates to improvements in heat The second feature of the invention resides generators suitable for heating water and/or genin a boiler construction which is compact and erating steam for heating systems and for other therefore particularly suited for use in situauses. tions where space for heating equipment is lim- A principal object of the invention is to pro- 5 ted. The boiler preferably consists of concenvide an improved Heat Generator of the above tric inner and outer shells telescoped together general character which is so constructed as to and each closed at one end and welded or otherachieve; wise suitably secured together at their other l. A high degree of thermal efficiency to insure ends. This construction provides a combustion operating economy at both high and low re opchamber of the re-entrant type, since it is eneration. tirely closed, except at the end into which an 2. A high degree of compactness, to meet the oil burner protrudes. This construction, therelimitations of space for heaters in many situafore, is highly advantageous because high turn tions, for example, in motor driven buses and in bulence can be maintained in the fire chamber portable heating and power equipment. to insure complete combustion.

3. Maximum adaptability to quick servicing of This construction presents a third feature in the boiler and fuel burning equipment. that the apparatus as a whole can be readily 4. High turbulence in the combustion chamdismantled for repair of the burner or for cleanber so as to insure complete combustion of relaing the interior of the Water jacket. For ex tively large quantities of liquid and gaseous ample, the Welded joint of the inner and outer fluids in a relatively small combustion space vand shells can be readily opened by means of a cutat the same time minimizes the combustion noise ting torch and thereafter rewelded together aftby maintaining the supply of high velo-city comer cleaning. In some situations this joint may bustion air substantially constant. be bolted or riveted. The burner, including the The rst feature of this invention resides in blower, fuel pump and associated parts, con improved means for facilitating exchange of stitutes a single unit which can be quickly re-u heat, comprising heat-exchanger fins in the form moved and replaced. Also the burner nozzle, the of metal helices metallically bonded to portions spiral conduit and fire-pot constitute a sub-unit. of the inner and outer shells of the boiler. In The spiral conduit is anged to match a flange the embodiment of the invention described in this on the boiler unit and is detachably clamped specification, the metal helices are attached to thereto; and the nozzle and fire-pot are in turn, the cylindrical surfaces of the inner and outer bolted to opposite sides of the spiral conduit.

shells of a boiler by means of spot welds and This arrangement makes for extreme compactn thereafter galvanizing the helices and the surness of design and greatly facilitates taking the faces of the shells. The galvanized coating prosub-unit apart and re-assembling the same.

vides a good metallic bond and results in de- The fourth feature of the invention has to do positing enough metal along the areas of conwith reduction or elimination of burner roar,

tact between the helices and the boiler shells to and, at the same time, the maintenance of a insure efficient heat conduction from the helices steady name, l"which is less apt to become exinto the metal of the boiler shells. The helices tinguished inadvertently than one which burns are so applied to the boiler that they will eifecwith pulsating irregularities. I have found that tively intercept the stream of hot gases of coma major part of the burner roar which is charbustion without unduly obstructing the draft. acteristic of oil burners generally is due to un- Tnis is accomplished in the present instance by dulations of the air supply occurring at an audi-- laying the helices circumferentially of the boiler ble rate and arising from the fact that the cenu shell; and for the purpose of improving the trifugal type blowers employed do not produce metallic bond l prefer to corrugate the boiler an air discharge of the desired constant velocity shell to form peripheral grooves in which the and pressure. A blower of that type is relahelices are seated. These grooves also facilitate tively highly eiicient and well suited for gendeposition of a heavy coating of bonding metal 5u erating the required pressure, but the air delirat the contact areas. This feature has proved ered is not of constant velocity and pressure. highly effective as a heatexchange provision and Consequently the combustion takes place in the is one which can advantageously be employed form of pulsating impulses. l have been able not only in water boiler construction but in successfully to cope with this problem and thus analogous situations where eflicient heat eX- 55 substantially to suppress burner roar. without change provisions are required. resorting to a less lerlicient type blower, by interposing between the blower and the burner, a relatively long column of air. rIhe long column of high velocity air serves as an equalizer to smooth out the pressure undulations, so that the pressure at the burner end is devoid of audible variation. By forming the air duct of spiral conguratioii, 1 able to incorporate Athe long air coluiwprncipl a. heating Vunit of the small size. The manner in which the spiral con-A duit is combined with the burner to form an exceedingly compact unit constitutes an important part of my inventive concept.

Additional objects and novel features of this invention will become app'arentas th ensuing detailed description progresses. Y

The accompanying drawings illustrate, by Way of example, an oil-burning Water heater embodying the several above-enumerated novel features.

In the drawings:

Ill'igfl issd partial vertical section taken along the a'xisyof` Va v'horizontal boiler and associated oil-burner unit;

lEigjZ -is Ya front elevation of the heater unit;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the heater unit'j Fig. 4 is a transverse section at line 4 4 of e Fig.`1; and

Fig. 5`is'a rear elevation as viewed from line 5-45oi Eig. 1. l' Y The heater unit, as rabove defined, comprises a boiler;V unit lll,` and a burner unit `I l. In this instance the latter` is' an oil-burning unit; but the invention is n'ot limited in that respect.

' Tte beller wilt The boiler unit lil comprises a boiler, per Se. identiiied bs numeral l2.: and consisting i cli cpteishell ci ,wall element l and an inner shell ci Wal-1. element Ill. The. two.. wall elements or snelle are concentric and each. closed at cnc cpd ley. header plates le and it. respectively.

The Seid. Shells are. spaced to. torni a Watery jacket I8, which surrounds, the inner sneu it and also includes. the space `bett/.een the header plates 'il dhd. lli. The. interior cavity i9 ofY shell i4 cciistt t the combustion chamber; the. end of Seid innei. shell neinote trom the header plate it beine leitcpen tc. receive a portion of the burner unit, and is bent outwardly' tc form c iiincticri With, the @decent end ofthe outer shell I3. The Scicli adicinine ends are, herein shown. as weiden tceetherall eroded ne indicated at 2l, but in Seme instances this joint mail. be secured by lcclts'ci iivcte.. Cenduits 2.2v and ze are. Connected With, @Delillles tllebcttcn and tcp of outer Shell |13; edd. servent unter intake. and discharge fittings.; rccpcctivchi- These are adapted4 to be Connected; t9, the het. Water distribution piping, and they, iuilcticiiA et.. the same timeN as means lclccciiiine the beller within. cn cuter hcueine of the boiler` unit, so thatV it can readily be withd ewii for. cleaning and other strippingvr operar tiene.

'Tige cuter licileins ci the. bcilei unit is. identified by reference nancial. 2,5.. and, consists of afsitable sheet metal. structure hcvins a cylindfrilcsl, chamber 2t. decanen tc. receive the boiler, tied legged cil. all; sides except the front, with suitable thermal insulation 2J. As an alternative, the insulation 2J. may be. omitted and the outerA casing formed into an additional water jacket connected to the inner water jacket i8.

The conduits or Attings- 22- and 23 extend through tubular.. bushings 28- which are disposed between andv secured :to .the'inner and. outer plates of the back wall' otfthelhousing, and are rm metallic-ally bonded. there,

1y but detachably secured to said bushings by means of clamping screws 29, which are threaded into tubular lugs 3i) Welded to bushings 28 and projecting radially so as to be accessible from the peripheral surface of the housing.

When the clamping screws 29 are loosened and the hot water'piping disconnected from ilttings 22 and 23, the boiler canv be withdrawn from the housing 25 through the open front end thereof. 'Attached to the internal wall surface of inner shell M are shown a plurality or helices 32, prefrably ur, each of which encompasses the entire internal circumference of said inner shell, and each is seated in an annular groove 33 formed 'the shell. 'Said grooves serve to appropriately space the helices 32 laterally and they also function td increase the area'of contact between thshell and the helices. The purpose of helices 32 is to expedite transfer of heat into and through inner shell i4 to the water in the Water jacket i3.. In order to do so efciently they are formed to expose large area to the hot gases of combustion and have adequate cross: sectional area to conduct the heat rapidly. Their Contact with the boiler shell is such. as will expedite transfer oi heat into the metal oi the shell, permit free expansion and contraction of the several parte and at the same time, do not unduly obstruct the gaseous products ci com-V bustion on their way to the exhaust conduit S.

The helices 3.2. are. mede of iron 01' ,Steel with widely spaced ccnvclpticiis, es Shown in Fis.- e; to permit passage ef the products of combustion. They are welded. tc tlic inner. Spell, and further p j d py ineens of. a enlvanized continent sinicient thickness to pro.- vidc e heavy deposit ci metal in, the .crevices formed by the helices and the. ediciiiine boiler shell and thus provides Vhighly emcient paths through which heet. is transferred by condiicticn from, the helices inte the boiler Snell Additiciiel helices, te, c f. the Seite kind es the heliccSA 32 cbcvc described, die secured in the Seme icy tc tlic. O iitcl. surface ci cuter ,Shell I3 end. Similcely heeded leetellicclly to Seid cuter shell! ilclices 3 5 sie, dispcsed in. en annular nccsceicwcy il between tlic. cuter Siicll i3. ind tiic licnsiiie 2.5, thieiieh which. passageway tljc crc iicts ci ccmbusticn passte their Wei te ille exhaust Aciindliift tft! The hamer unit The major components of the burner. unit H are: a burner nozzle lt; a nozzle housing 4I.; a re pot ft2; a spiral conduit 43; a blower it driven by an electric motor `d5; afnel pump d6 driven by the same motor; and an .outre control 41. .The internal constructions of the nozzle housingV 1M and. the re pot 4'2. are not important insofartas the present invention is concerned except as a part ofv themeans for delivering a'mixturev ofV fuel and air into the fire chamber I9 of the boiler in the form o'f a centralshattfor. jet and. with suilicient force to carry the llame and partiallyig- 11i-ted.` mixture to the closed end of the nre chainber. rlihe l'arne andhotvgases then assume a verticalv rollingrnovement rearwardly along-u the walls of the combustion chamber Vlll and pass out through the open end thereof` into the outlet passageway containing the heat absorbingA and-oo nducting *heli ces The-said nozzle '40, the nozzle housing' 4|,V andy me .ere-pop 42- are disclosed 'and Claimed lll "21 @Pending ldivisional application seriai'No. 364,842. ined- Jun'zc, i953. leise-bhe specic constructions vdfi theV out fire contrleill geraten has been divided out ofthe present application and is disclosed and claimed in U. S. Letters Patent No. 2,609,867, dated September 9, 1952.

Nozzle is connected to -fuel pump 46 through a length of tubing 5I] and couplings 5l and 52, and is supported by a casting 53. It extends through a central opening in the castingand is secured therein by a set screw 53a; Said casting 53 is drilled and threaded to accommodate a spark plug 54,' and itis secured to a disc-like sheet metal member 55 having a peripheral ange 55 through which itis removably secured to the spiral conduit structure 43. The spark plug 54 functions to ignite the gaseous mixture as it enters the fire pot 42.

The nozzle housing 4l is made of sheet metal and encircles the discharge end portion of the nozzle and serves to direct the incoming air blast into the Iire pot 42. The spiral conduit 43 is made of sheet metal and comprises a housing consisting of a front plate 60, a rear plate (i I, and a peripheral plate 62 interconnecting said front and rear plates. Within said housing is a spirally formed plate or strip 63 which cooperates with the housing to define a spiral passageway 64 which is connected at the outer end of a flanged intake fitting 65 (see Fig. 2). The fitting 65 is bolted to the discharge fitting 66 of the blower 64.

The rear plate El of the spiral conduit housing extends radially beyond plate 62 to form a peripheral flange 6 la which normally is held tightly against a complementary flange 16, forming a part of the structure of housing 25, by means of two approximately semi-circular clamping members 'H of V-shaped cross-section, which serve to grip the two flanges together when forced against them edgewise. The two clamping mem- Kbers 'ii-7H are each provided at their ends with lugs 'l2 (see Fig. 3) arranged in pairs and designed for engagement by tension bolts 13. Said tension bolts operate to pull the V-shaped clamping members 'il into tight pinching engagement with flanges Bla and 16. Clamping members 1l, together with bolts 13, yfunction as the sole medium by which the burner unit is attached to boiler housing 25; and the entire weight of the .burner unit is borne by said housing and transmitted thereto through said clamping members.

claim:

1. A heat generator comprising an outer casing having an inner wall structure, a boiler positioned in said outer casing but spaced from the inner wall structure thereof and cooperating therewith to denne an annular space surrounding the boiler and providing an outlet passageway for hot gases of combustion, the boiler comprising inner and outer wall elements which conjointly define a water jacket and the inner wall element denes a combustion chamber closed along its sides and at one end, but open at the other end to receive a combustible mixture and to discharge the hot gases of combustion, means dening a passageway leading from said open end of the combustion chamber into said annular space between the boiler and the outer casing, and separately formed heat conducting ns metalically bonded to the outer surface of the boiler and extending into said annular space between the boiler and the outer casing to increase the heat absorbing area of the boiler.

2. A heat generator according to claim 1 characterized in that the heat conducting ns are in the form of a plurality of metallic bands encircling the outer surface of the boiler and engaging the inner wall structure of said outer casing to maintain theboiler and casing in their' spaced relationship. n

3. A heat generator according to claim 2 characterized in that heat absorbing fins in the form of metallic bands are also metallically bonded t0 a portion of the inner surface of the inner wall element of the boiler.

fl. A heat generator according to claim 3 characterized in that each of the said metallic Ibands comprise an expanded helix.

5. A heat generator as dened in claim 4 characterized in that the inner and outer wall elements of the boiler are circumferentially corrugated and each expanded helix is seated in a corrugation and bonded to one of said wall elements of the boiler.

6. A heat generator comprising an outer casing having an inner wall structure and a boiler positioned in said outer casing but spaced from the inner wall structure thereof and cooperating therewith to define an annular passage between the boiler and the outer casing for the discharge of gases of combustion, the boiler comprising spaced apart inner and outer wall elements which conjointly define a water jacket and the inner wall element deiines a combustion chamber closed along its sides and at one end but open at its other end to receive a combustible mixture and to discharge hot gases or combustion, means for delivering fuel and air under pressure into the said open end of the combustion chamber, whereby portions of the fuel and gases of combustion are projected in the form of a jet through the gaseous body within the combustion chamber to the closed end thereof, a closure plate for closing one end of said outer casing, the said plate being positioned in spaced relation to the open end of the combustion chamber and cooperating therewith to dene a passageway leading from said open end of the combustion chamber into the said annular passage between the boiler and said outer casing.

7. A heat generator as defined in claim 6 characterized in that means are provided for delivering air into the combustion chamber at a high velocity comprising a blower and a relatively long conduit connecting the blower with the combustion chamber, whereby the kinetic energy of the long column oi air functions to equalize the undulations of the air supplied.

8. A heat generator as defined in claim 7 characterized in that the relatively long conduit for delivering air into the combustion chamber is in the form of a spiral, one face of which is dened by said closure plate, whereby the combustion air is heated by contact with said closure plate.

9. A heat generator as defined in claim 6 characterized in that the inner and outer wall elements are in the iorrn of concentrically arranged shells each closed at one end and secured only at its open end to the open end portion of the other shell, whereby said shells are free to expand and contract with relation to each other at different rates.

10. A heat generator comprising means dening a water jacket an inner portion of which defines a centrally arranged combustion chamber closed along its sides and at one end but open at its other end to receive a combustible mixture and to discharge hot gases of combustion, means for delivering fuel and air under pressure into the said open end of the combustion chamber, whereby portions of the fuel and gases of cornbustion are projected in the form of a .iet

.through the gaseous body within the combustion tion with the Water therein, a cover plate extending across the entrance end of said discharge passageway and across the open end of the combustion chamber but spaced therefrom and cooperating therewith to provide a passageway leading from the open end of the combustion chamber to said discharge passageway.

References Cited in the 111e of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Y Date Nussbaum Jan. 23, 1900 Constantinescu July 16, 1912 Hess Nov. 18, 1924 Haas et a1 Aug. 23, 1927 Taylor Nov. 5, 1929 Avery Jan. 8, 1935 Schumann May 19, 1936 Macchi Aug. 3, 1943 

